Dave Gerhardt

Hey I'm Dave Gerhardt. I created Exit Five, which has turned into the top community for B2B marketing professionals. Before starting Exit Five I had a 10 year career in marketing and grew from PR intern to CMO. I even once had hair! My wife says I'm more handsome now though, and she's quite pretty so that means a lot -- but the internet just boxes me in as the typical bald guy tech bro. So oh look, another bald tech guy writing on LinkedIn! whoopty freaking do.

Anyway. Where was I... OH. Receipts! I wanted to talk about receipts, because in a world of fluff and online influencers, I actually have some receipts and I want to tell you about them here because it signals power, credibility, and makes it seem like I'm super rich, so: I used to be pretty good at marketing, and my work as a marketer played a key role (at least I think so) in helping two software companies to successful exits: Drift for $1B+ and Privy for $100M+. I certainly helped the founders make a bunch of money, and I was able to comfortably purchase a brand new Toyota Sienna minivan for my family in 2021.

Today I spend my time working on Exit Five, and it's actually been super fun and given me a bunch of purpose. We're a team of six full-time team members now, and we have a private online community and host in-person events around the world. Plus there's a popular podcast and newsletter for marketers. We reach something like 20 MILLION marketers with our content every year, and we've got a pretty special thing going on. I hope to keep it going. You can learn more about it all at exitfive.com.

I spent most of my life in the Boston area but now live in the woods in Vermont with my wife, two kids, two cats, and one dog.

You can reach me at dave@exitfive.com if you want, but TBD if I reply. Depends on the message. But please don't send me any more swag or books. But if for whatever reason you do want to send me something, I play the ProV1x golf ball and like the low numbers.

PS. Find my podcast “The Dave Gerhardt Show” on Spotify

Founder & CEO

Exit Five is a media company focused on B2B marketing. We help B2B marketers build successful careers through our content and community. Learn more at exitfive.com

We polled ~100 CMOs at companies $50M - $500M+ ARR on what their top marketing challenges are right now. Here are the top takeaways.

_________________________________________________________

1. AI. No surprise. 85% said AI adoption is # 1 priority for 2026.

But this goes beyond the cute use cases you see on LinkedIn and from the AI creators showing you all the new things to do with the new tools.

"I need practical use cases and quick wins to show” - VPM $25M ARR

“We are expected to be using AI to scale marketing  efficiently” - VPM $30M ARR

“We are under pressure to demonstrate hard savings and additional value created via AI adoption.” - CMO $450M ARR

“Wondering am I moving fast enough on AI transformation — not just adopting tools, but truly rethinking how marketing works from the ground up.” - CMO $600M ARR

_________________________________________________________

2. Everyone said some version of this: "We need to grow more, spend less, & prove marketing did it.”

Grow more. Spend less. And PROVE that marketing did it. That is the key word there.

They all talked about revenue growth, but the framing has evolved beyond "drive more MQLs."

The dominant language was:

• Marketing-sourced and marketing-influenced pipeline (not just leads)
• Pipeline quality over volume
• Tying marketing to ACV expansion and retention, not just new logos

“We ned to tie marketing more directly to revenue outcomes — not just MQLs, but marketing-sourced and marketing-influenced pipeline, ACV growth, and expansion revenue” - VPM $85M ARR

_________________________________________________________

3. The other repeat topics we heard included:

• Team too small for scope of work
• Feeling  caught between strategic work (positioning, GTM, C-suite influence) and heavy day-to-day execution
• Structural misalignment after acquisition or reorg
• AI search disruption
• Moving upmarket
• Moving from single product to multi-product

_________________________________________________________

PS. We run a private group for in-house B2B marketing leaders. If you're running the marketing team at a company doing $50M+ ARR you should check this group out. Apply here:

exitfive.com/cmo-council

LinkedIn is the number one channel for B2B marketers (for content, social, ads, you know we love it here) so I had LinkedIn VP Marketing Davang Shah on the podcast this week to go right to the source about what's working, what's not, and trends across the platform.

We covered: 

- What actually works with LinkedIn ads right now
- Brand vs performance marketing strategies and how they differ
- How to think about measurement beyond last-click attribution on ads
- Why 95% of your buyers aren't in market at any given time and what to do about it

Davang also shares the data behind thought leader ads, what most marketers get wrong about the buyer journey, and how he's leading his own team through the AI shift at LinkedIn.

Listen here:

https://lnkd.in/erc8w2vM

PS. Did you know the average B2B deal takes 211 days and involves 22 people?

Michael Pedersen

Revenue Growth | Emotion-Based Brand Messaging To 3x Your Revenues | Bridging the gap between sales and marketing

High call-volume teams don’t fail from lack of skill.They lose performance across the shift when rough calls stack and recovery lags the next dial.Morning numbers are strong.Afternoons drift.DecideFast™ runs in the seconds after a call so performance holds from first block to last.No integration.No coaching.No training.No workflow changes.No IT involvement.Training happens before the shift.Coaching happens after the shift.Dashboards explain the drop once it already hit the numbers.Nothing protects the transition between one call and the next.That is the gap DecideFast™ fills.DecideFast™ shortens after-call transition so the day doesn’t slide as it progresses.Used in seconds.No management overhead.See after-call recovery live.No slides. No pitch.

CEO & Founder

Does your website convert? When was the last time you gave it a refresh? How does it compare to your competitors?

Your company website is your brand on the Internet. An under-performing and outdated website will cost you revenues. 

Let’s jump on a discovery call to see if we are good fit to work together 

Visit: www.AZNetmarketing.com or 
Email: mike@aznetmarketing.com

How much is a rough call costing your phone team?

Most leaders look at call volume, close rate, and revenue.

Almost nobody looks at what happens right after a rough call.

Over the past few months, we interviewed three dozen reps and agents working in high-call-volume environments.

We asked one simple question.

What actually happens after a bad call?

The answers were consistent.

“That last call threw me off.”
“I was still thinking about that one.”
“I’m not ready for the next call.”
“I need a reset before the next dial.”
"I don't need more coaching, I need to get out of my head."

That moment is short.

The cost compounds across the day.
One rough call can affect the next call.
Then the next one after that.

Across a team, the numbers add up fast.

So we built a simple Rough Call Carryover Calculator where leaders can plug in their own numbers and see the real impact across a team.
No assumptions.
Just your numbers.

If you lead a high-volume phone team and want the calculator, comment below, and I’ll send it.

Mike Pedersen

High-Volume Phone Teams See Afternoon Performance Drop | DecideFast™ Prevents It | No Training. No IT. No Workflow Changes.

How a phone sales rep recovers from a rough call

Listen to how recovery is being explained right now:
➡️ Take a minute.
➡️ Extend ACW.
➡️ Build in a buffer.
➡️ AI agent assist.

That all sounds reasonable.

It doesn’t match how these environments actually run.
✅ Calls are back-to-back.
✅ Queues don’t wait.
✅ Reps are already into the next conversation.

So recovery never happens the way it’s described.
A rough call ends.
The next call hits.
The last one comes with it.

You can hear it in the opener.
You can see it in the close.

And by the afternoon, the numbers show it.
That’s the miss.

Recovery isn’t about adding time.
It’s about what happens in the seconds right after a rough call, before the next one connects.

That moment decides the next call.

DecideFast™ delivers a real-time reset right after a rough call, clearing the carryover before the next call connects, so bad calls don’t stack, the afternoon doesn’t fall apart, and managers stop watching the numbers drop with no way to stop it.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Test It With A Small Team
14-days
25-reps
We measure whether afternoon output holds without additional manager intervention. 

For more information, feel free to reach out via email: mike@decidefastbusiness.com.

What is rough call carryover.

Most leaders call it burnout.

Morning block looks sharp.
Afternoon block widens.
Same reps. Same leads. Same scripts.

What changed?

After a stretch of tough calls, hesitation between dials stretches.
Five seconds becomes eight.
Eight becomes twelve.
Across a team, that compounds fast.

That’s not exhaustion.
It’s rough calls accumulating.

Definition of Rough Call Recovery: The ability of a phone sales rep to return to normal pace and tone before the next dial after a rough call.

I wrote a breakdown on what it is and how to spot it in your numbers.
https://lnkd.in/gycdm6eq

If you are a phone sales leader and you want to stop your afternoons from crashing, there is a way. And it's not in your current tech stack.

➡️ 14-day, 25 rep contained pilot. 
➡️  Measure: Does afternoon output hold.
➡️  Email me: mike@decidefastbusiness.com

taplio

The Battle

Dave Gerhardt

Michael Pedersen

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreDave Gerhardt's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreMichael Pedersen's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Dave Gerhardt

Michael Pedersen

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Dave Gerhardt's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreMichael Pedersen's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreDave Gerhardt's LinkedIn Performance